President William Ruto’s pet project, the Hustler Fund, now has a management team in place following four appointments through a special edition of the Kenya Gazette issued on Friday.
Dr Ruto has appointed Ms Irene Muthoni Metha-Karani as the non-executive chairperson of the Financial Inclusion Fund (Hustler Fund) board, citing the powers given to him by the Public Finance Management Act to do so.
In the same notice, MSME Development Cabinet Secretary Simon Chelugui appointed three people to the fund’s board, also citing powers by the Public Finance Management Act.
The three are Mr Lawrence Kibet Chelimo, Mr Paul Ndore Musymi and Ms Hardlyne Lusui. Alongside Ms Muthoni, they will be members of the board for three years starting January 13.
As per regulations to manage the fund that were published in December, the Hustler Fund was to have an eight-member advisory board. The regulations said the fund would have a non-executive chairperson appointed by the President. Principal secretaries in charge of the treasury, SMES and Co-operatives would also be part of it.
Little information is available online about Ms Muthoni, the chairperson appointee. The other three board members have an array of experience. Mr Kibet, a lawyer who is a certified public secretary and also a certified public accountant, has played various roles in the capital markets scene. Mr Ndore, also a lawyer, has been an ally of former Nairobi governor Mike Sonko while Ms Lusui is a banker who has previously sat on the board of Consolidated Bank.
Also in the notice, the vice chancellor of the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Prof Mabel Imbuga, was removed by President Ruto as the chairperson of the National Authority for the Campaign against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (Nacada). The president replaced her with Stephen Kiptoem Mairori, who will serve for a three-year term starting January 20.
Dr Ruto also fired former Mwingi Central MP Joe Mutambu as the chair of the Tana and Athi Rivers Development Authority, replacing him with Mr Patrick Gichuru Gichohi, a former National Assembly clerk.
Also on the President’s chopping board was Ms Carol Musyoka who will no longer be the chair of the board of the Kenya Deposit Insurance Corporation (KDIC). Her place will be taken by Ms Hannah Waitherero Muriithi who will serve for a three-year term starting January 20.
Ms Waitherero, a lawyer, has previously chaired the board of the National Hospital Insurance Fund and was the founding board chair of the Kenya National Highways Authority.
The face of the KDIC board will change completely because four members were fired and replaced. Besides Ms Waitherero, the other members will be Ms Melissa Ngania (a lawyer who was part of the team that represented Dr Ruto as he defended his August 2022 win at the Supreme Court), Ms Anne Rimbaine Lengerded (who has been a council member of the Ewaso Ngiro South Development Authority), Mr James Agembe Akali and Mr Joseph Kipkemoi Ngetich.
The special gazette issue also announced the appointment of Mr Jeremiah Kamau Kinyua as the chair of the National Standards Council.
